Android: how to update an Android app with inapp billing?

Question

Another way to ask the question: how to make inapp billing working with all versions of my app?

I have got an app with inapp billing. I want to update it.

My active apk on the developer console is in version 1. My problem is the following:

• when I install my updated app (signed package) in version 2 on my device using adb, I get the following message: "This version of the application package is not configured for Market billing"
• when I install my updated app (always signed package) in version 1 (same version as the one on the console) on my device (what I can't do on the console...I have to increase the version number !) using adb, verything works...

Consequently, it seems that inapp billing works only with one version of the app: the one which is active in the console. I imagine that my users will have the same issue: only the users with the last update of the app will be able to perform inapp billing...the others will get the error.

Anybody knows how to solve this issue ? How can I do so that all my apps already installed in the world will be able to do inapp billing whatever the version number is ??

Thanks !!!

Answer 1

By "console" do you mean your publisher's account?

I think this isn't a bug but a feature by design. If you attempt to make a purchase that doesn't have one of the 4 android.test.* item ids, and it is running a debug version or even a release version that is newer than the one you have published, you will receive this error:

For example, if you're running on your device a Release mode that's one version higher than what's in the Market and you try to purchase a real item (not an android.test.* one), you will get the aforementioned error.

To further clarify: If you run an application of a higher versionCode than the one in the AndroidMarket (with the same package name, of course) it will succeed in "making the purchase" if you use one of the 4 android.test.* item ids.

Please note that this is based on my own experience and observation as full documentation on this leaves something to be desired.